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This morning I'm going to be visiting a maxillofacial surgeon for a dental implant. I'll also be getting a bone graft as part of the procedure, because my jaw bone isn't deep enough to hold the screw on its own. Doesn't that sound lovely?

My Smart Man took the day off to be my caregiver. We love him for that, but I'm still not looking forward to the procedure. And of course my insurance won't pay for any of the costs...but will pay for dentures. I don't get that - they'll pay for the temporary solution that results in other medical problems such as bone loss, but they won't pay for the permanent solution. So this will be out of pocket...and maxillofacial surgeons do not work cheap. Not that I blame them - since they're both MD's and DDS's, they're in school and residency forever. If I had to go to school until I was 35 before I could start my career, I'd be charging whatever I wanted, if only to pay off the student loans.

So wish me luck. I probably won't be back to blogging until tomorrow. Since my surgeon has prescribed Darvocet for the pain, when I do come back, you'll probably be treated to such stunning intellectual revelations as "The Ice Capades are cool,"and "My dog is fuzzy!" I'm sure you can't wait for that.

Yuck, my jaw is aching for you already! Best wishes to you with the surgery and a pain-free recovery.

Insurance companies are such *idiots*, corporately speaking. The ones that cover Viagra but not contraceptives are the most egregious, IMHO.

I'm thinking drug-blogging would be really fun. We had a super-high-strung and volatile manager once who was much more fun and tolerable when she was on muscle relaxants for her back. (not that you're starting out from the same place - but the result still might be entertaining!)

First - I hope you get better soon. Don't lie on the couch no matter how well you're feeling - the narcs cycle in and out of the CNS, and if you pass out, you'll end up crashing on the floor. Been there, done that.

All right, insurance companies are my natural enemies, but I have to come to their defense here.

"I don't get that - they'll pay for the temporary solution that results in other medical problems such as bone loss, but they won't pay for the permanent solution."

This is perfectly a logical game theory play for them. The average amount of time an American stays in a plan is 18 months to 2 years. If they pay for the more expensive option, chances are, someone else is going to benefit from the lowered long-term costs, because bone loss won't set in for 5 years or so.

This is why I think we need to ditch the WWII system of employer-sponsored insurance. It was orginally offered as a benny because wages were frozen in WWII.

We need to get back to insurance groups that can be joined by anyone, and offering a menu of plans that include catastophic-only insurance (i.e. letting people have the option of paying directly for their own maintenance costs) - the free market will drive down costs because docs have to chace the insurers now and fight for every red cent (see, I can't help bashing them somewhat).

Well, your posts tomorrow will probably still beat "ducks taste like mud" which was my stall tactic of yesterday while completely sapient. ;)

Coincidentally I'm doing battle with my insurance company too. It turns out that the lab who did a blood test back in December had gone out of network due to bickering with the insurance, and so they sent me to a rival lab. However, when the results came back, all the paperwork supported that the bickering lab had done the tests, not the rival lab. And since they're out of network, they want to charge me all the money that the insurance company now refuses to cover. -.-

I hate insurance companies. You know how medical insurance has a maximum amount that you have to pay per year, after which they pay for everything? (Like a deductible, kinda.) Well, dental insurance is the opposite. They pay a maximum, after which you pay everything. I learned that only after be charged up the wahzoo for a procedure I had done in Dec. that I could have easily moved to Jan, had I known. Arrgh!

My half-brother recently got major dental surgury, and since he has a phobia about having sharp things in his mouth, they pretty much had to give him Midazolam (an intravenous anesthetic that has an amnestic property) and Triazolam leading up to the surgury to deal with anxiety. He tried to write a blog post that ended up being unintelligible.

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I care about social justice, libraries, science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I serve as a Director on our local library's Foundation Board. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I aspire to run faster than I do, and I donate knitted cold weather gear to various charities. Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.